NEW DELHI: Terming pollution in Delhi as "terrible" and "out of control", the high court on Wednesday demanded a detailed action plan from the state government and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).
"We too are victims of air pollution in Delhi," a Division Bench of Justices B D Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva said, specifically referring to the high levels of particulate matter, benzene, sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and carbon monoxide (CO) "as culprits".
It noted that "air pollution here is clearly visible" and referred to the abnormally high levels of certain pollutants in Civil Lines and the IGI airport zone.
The court ticked off DPCC wondering why it is "not concerned over the high concentration of pollutants?" It expressed concern that Delhi has only 11 monitoring stations for more than 1.5 crore people.
"We must find out why this is happening and remedial measures that need to be taken," the court noted, directing the government and DPCC to prepare an action plan on "what needs to be done". The court directed amicus curie Kailash Vasudev and the environment ministry to come up with suggestions.
The bench took suo motu cognizance of the pollution problem on the basis of a report terming Delhi the world's most polluted city.
HC irked to see no lawyer for pollution board
The court observations came on a report filed by Vasudev that said particulate matter (PM) was the highest contributor to air pollution and it had exceeded the standard levels of 100 micrograms per cubic metre of air.
